Engine.



C. i. LAKE.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION-FILED MAR.26.1912.

Pzenedept. 21, 19M.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

C. J. LAKE.

ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED IIIAII. 26. IsIz.

LL5@;3: Patentedept. 21, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHE 2A putain srarns rarer essie.

CHRISTOPHER J. LAKE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

ENGINE.

aisance.

17 'o all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, CHRISTOPHER J. LAKE, citizen of the United States, and resident. of Bridgeport in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This intention relates to a combined gas explosion and steam pressure engine, and is lo an improvement on that class of engine shown anddescribed in my patent dated October l, i910, #$971,760.

The purpose of my present device is to utilize a portion of the power of the explosion stroke to drive an air compressor to force an elastic Huid under pressure into a radiating chamber surrounding the piston cylinder, and whereby the heat radiating from the explosions is utilized to increase the temperature and pressure 'of such fluid for use to drivef-the piston in the opposite direction, and for other useful purposes as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

Another object is to provide for the eniployment of a portion of the air fromv the compressor to force a spray of 'water into the heat absorbing chamber, to be turned into steam by the heat radiating from the explosions; further to provide for the coml mingled injectment of a portion of the superheated elastic liuid and a regulatable proper proportion of` fuel for the explosion charge.

lalso provide means to preheat, disintegrate, and volatilize the heavier grades of fuel or crude oils at the point of conimingled elastic fluid injectment into the combustion cylinder; provision is also made for the employment of a portion of the superheated fluid to scavenge the cylinder of dead or spent gases near the end of the piston stroke before the fuel is admitted and to recharge the cylinder with new explosive mixture uns der pressure with subsequent compression before ignition.

Another object is to provide a common means to vary the volume of the explosive charge and at the same time maintain the proper proportion of fuel and air, viz: as the fuel is increased or decreased the elastic y fluid will be relatively increased or decreased by the same operation so as to maintain the eflicient explosive mixture at any load or speed desired, and finally to so design the engine that its power generating cylinder is placedv on its foundation bed or Specification of Letters Patent.

Rl'e encountered.

rateateasept. 2i, i915.

Application filed March 26, 1912. Serial No. 686,361.

lower portion, with its initial explosive stroke thrusting upward and its crank shaft arranged upon the upper extremity of the engine. l

In present forms of upright engines the power shaft is located in the lower extremitv of the engine bed or crank case with the lpower or driving cylinder arranged above obtain these results from an engine with a low driving shaft, some form of power transmission must be resorted to which is undesirable and ineflicient. In my aerial propelled boat I experience the same diiiiculty, as the propeller must be located high to clear the water. To make direct connection with the present type of low shaft engine would makethe boat top heavy and dangerous, and serious transmission diliicul- This division of the prime explosive stroke with the intermediate elastic pressure stroke alleviates vibration and'makes it possible to employ a lighter construction and fly wheel, evens the application of power, insures steadier running, and produces in combination a com plete one cycle engine. i

The invention further consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangesection through my improved combined vgas Iand steam engine. Fig. 2, 1s a side view of l0I same, the gas, air and oil tanks being removed. Fig. 3, is a bottom plan view of the saidengine. Fig.' 4, is a sectional plan through the main cylinder of the engine and taken on line 1 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is an 110 enlarged sectional elevation of the lower portion of the cylinders illustratingqthef valve mechanism on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3, is a detached inverted plan vieW of the valve shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7, is a further detached central vertical sectional view of the said valve, and, Fig. 8, is an enlarged detail vertical sectional vievv7 of a portion oit the cylinder showing the ignition plug and drain cock.

As before mentioned the engine as a whole is arranged in anI upright position, the base or cylinder casing 10 being supported upon a sill 11 and secured thereto by means of bolts l2. Four standards 13 are secured to a flange on the upper end of the casing and thus support a connected frame 14. .Tournal bearings liare formed on this frame and serve to accommodate the crank shaft- 16 arranged crosswise therein. A pair of guiderods 17 are also secured to the frame and. casin )flange and intermediate ot the said stantards. A piston rod slide 18 is reciprocatingly mounted between these guide rods and has one end ot a. link 19 pivotedly connected thereto and whose other end similarly connected to the crank of 'the shalt lf3 and whereby the reciprocating motion ol the piston rod is converted into a rotary movement. Common forms of' eccentric cams 20 and Q1 are also mounted. upon this crank shaft and are connected with the slide rods and 23 for operating the intake valves for the cylinders as will later be more fully explained. A propeller wheel 44 is lindicated upon the end of the shaft 16 and suggests the adoption ot-the engine 'for air ship purposes.

casing l0 serves to inclose and in part forms the two cylinders 24 and 25. The lower and main cylinder 24. is employed as the power cylinder, while the upper one serves as a compressor to force the heat absorbent agent into the radiating chamber 26 surrounding the cylinder 24. The heat radiatingr chamber is formed between the outer casing 10 and the jacket proper ol the cylinder Q4 and contains a series of annular perforated flanges Q7 which are directly connected with the cylinder walls and are heated therefrom by the explosions in the cylinder. The heat absorbent agent is forced through the chamber.I between these heating flanges, so thatl the heatradiating from the explosion. in the cylinder may be used to increase the .temperature and pressure of said agent, preparatory to being used vin the upper end 253 of the cylinder 24 to force the piston down. When the main explosion of gas takes place in the lower part 29 of the cylinder it naturally drives the piston 30 upward which in tuin carries the piston rod 31 and compressor piston 32 in the compressor cylinder 33 represents an air intake valve 4whereby successive charges of air are admitted to the upper cylinder from time to time, to be compressed, and in turn vtherethrough is broken up and better distributed. The `fuel tanks 3T and 43 as well as the water tank 3S are connected with the before mentioned pipe 35 by means of a smaller pipe 39 having in it a check valve 40. A. small quantity of water is fed into the radiating chamber through a pipe 41 and its valve 41, while the fuel is fed into the cylinder 24 through a pipe 46.

The feed pipe 42 connects the bottom of the oil tank 43 and the gas tank 37, and is provided with a three way cock 45 which in turn is connected with another pipe 46 that leads to the needle valve 4T. A bracket 48 secured to the bottom ot' the cylinder casing serves to support the vertically disposed portion of the ieed pipe' 46. A spring 49 is coiled about the pipe and is seated between the said bracket 48 and a nut 50 upon the .said pipe 46 in a manner to hold the needle valve 4T of the pipe 4G up in its normal posi-l tion. This needle valve is normally'seated in 'the main valve 51 in a way to close 'the radial ports thereotl when the said main valve is seated against the annular beveled seat 53 formed in the cap in the bottom ot' the cylinder 24; 1When the main valve head is raised as shown in Fig. 5, by the action oi' the cam '.20 the said needle valve is freed the lower portion and is perforated as shown, f

to allow the fuel to come through into the surrounding chamber. This needle and pipe are thus obviously fitted and guided in the hollow stem 55 otl the main valve 5l which has a vertical movement thereon and with relation thereto. The nuts 56 upon this pipe 46 serve to limit the upward movement of the needle and its pipe within the main valve stem, that is, when the said main valve is raised as shown in Fig. 5, th'us insuring the opening of both valves with each upward stroke of the piston. rllhe stop nuts 56 upon the pipe 46 are made adjustable with rela tion to the bracket 48 so as to regulate the movement of the needle valve within and With relation to the main valve. In this conneetion it will be'noted that the main valve opens slightly in advance of the needle valve which is for the purpose of admitting a charge of air from the compartment 57 in advance of the fuel supply, which serves to scavenge the cylinder of spent gases that are forced out through ports 58. The charge ot fuel is introduced during the return stroke of the piston and the instant the said ports 5,8jare closed by the piston. The fuel is thus forced in along with thecontinued supply of heated air which air is drawn down from the top of chamber through the vertical pipes 27a within the heat radiating chamber 26 and whereby the driest of the steam Acontained therein may be supplied beneath the mounted a shoe 62 that engages a roll G3' mounted upon the free end of a link 64 andv interposed between said shoe and a lever 65 hung from a link 66 pivotally connected to the cylinder head. A spring 67 is connected from the lower bracket 61 to the said lever 65 and serves to normally hold the outer end of the said lever up against the roll and likewise the roll up against the shoe. The inner' forked end of the lever straddles the stein 55 of the main valve and engages the collar ,68 secured to said stem. A spring 69 is seated between this collar and the end of the cylinder for the purpose of normally holding the collar, stem, and valve down to close the valve.v The valve is thus opened by the cam and closed when released by the cam, by the action of the spring 69. The cap 54- fr the main valve seat 53 as well as the connected cap 70 for the lower end of the cylinder jacket are removably held in place by a nut 71 as shown in Fig. 1.

The before mentioned connection of shoe, roll and leverare for the purpose of varying the amount of opening movement of the main valve so as to regulate the charge thereby in effect operating as a throttle. This variation is accomplished by shifting the po sition of the contacting roll 63 with relation to the shoe and lever thereby bringing the contact nearer to or farther from the ful crum or pivotal point of the lever with link 64. rIhe opposite end of this link bearing the roll, is pivotally connected to a vertically hung lever 72 to which the operating rod 73 is connected and adapted to throw the lever, link and roll back and forth to shift the roll in the manner and for the purpose before mentioned.

The heated fluid from within the radiating One arm of the lever 7 5 is connected with the valve stem and the other end is connected with the lower end of the slide rod.l A spring 77 is Vmounted upon this rod between the bracket 60 and a collar 78 secured to the rod, so as to normally hold the rod up against its cam.

79 represents a spark plug located in the lower end of the cylinder 2t and which would obviously be connected with batteries not shown, in the us/ual manner, whereby the charge/in the lower part of the cylinder could be fired at the proper instant to'operate the piston.

80 represents a relief cock that is located in the lower end of the cylinder 24 to release the pressure therein. n

The operation of my engine is substantially as follows: Assuming a compressed charge of fluid to be contained within the end 29 of the cylinder 24 and the same to be ignited and fired through the medium of' the spark plug 7 9 before mentioned', it would obviously force the pistons 30 and 32 and their rod 31 upward until the lower piston passed the exhaust ports 58 through which the burnt gases escape. T he air contained within the top end of the cylinder 25 is by this same movement of the piston forced out through the valve 34 and down through the pipe 35 and into the heat radiating chamber,

26. The said air compressed end of the cyl.-v 1

inder 25 is replenished with a new supply of air through the check valve 33 when the piston and rod again descend. A small proportiony of air is valso forced out from the pipe 235 through the pipes 39 to the several tanks 37, 3S and 43 suflicient to insure a pressure upon the fluids contained therein. A small'quantity of water is forced up from the tank 38 through the pipe al and its -valve 41 in througl'l the nozzle 36 to the heat radiating chamber 26 where it is dis-' tributed'and 4heated together with the air by reason of their contact with the several perforated flanges 27 within said space. After a few operations of the piston this radiating chamber obviously becomes compactly filled with a mixture of steam and air which' in turn is fed through the check valve 74; and into the upper end 28 of the cylinder 2st at a time and in a manner to force the piston down, thereby producing a double acting cylinder'. A-small quantity of the heated air and steam in the compartment 26 passes down through the pipes 27l1 to the chamber 57 where it is introduced into the explosion cylinder together with the fuel through the valve 51. The fluid is fed into the cylinder from either the tank 37 or 43 through the pipe 4:6... the needle valve and the main valve. These valves are opened and closed by the movement of the main valve 51 operated through the lever and connections with cams on the crank nlsaoee shaft. The amount of the opening and closing movement of the said valve when regl lated by the operation of .the rod 73 and" lever 72 is regulated in the manner hereto- Having thus described my invention what I. claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is '1. In an engine of the class described, the combination of an explosive cylinder, a chamber surrounding the same, perforated hea-t radiating disks mounted therein, Vertically arranged pipes extending through the disks, means for feeding both air and Water into the chamber to be heated to form steam, a main Valve to feed the fuel to the eXplosion cylinder, a needle valve within the main valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main valve, means for automatically operating both the main valve and needle Valve, van ai1' compressor cylinder in alinement with the main cylinder', connections from the air compressor cylinder to the steam generating cylinder, a single piston rod for both cylinders and having pistons to operate in the two alined cylinders.

2. ln anengine ofthe class described, the combination of a compression cylinder'and an explosion cylinder .in alin'ement with each other, a piston rod passing through both cylinders, a piston within each cylinder and mounted upon the rod, means for operating the one piston. in one direction by gas eXplosions, means for operating the 'same piston in the opposite direction by steam, a steam generating cylinder around the explosion cylinder, valve and pipe connections from the compression cylinder to the steam cylin- `der and explosion cylinder, means for feeding air into the said steam generating cylinder to be heated a main Valve and i e conf nection for controlling the-'supply of fuel andiheated air to the explosion cylinder, a

needle valve within the main valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main valve,

means for automatically operating both main valve and needle valve.

'3l ln an engine of the class described, the combination of a compression cylinder and an explosion cylinder in alinement with each other, a piston rod passing vthrough both cylinders, a piston Within each cylinder and mounted upon the rod, means for operating the one piston in one direction by gas ex-r plosions, means for operating the same piston in the opposite direction by steam, per forated hearadiating disks mounted therein, vertically arranged pipes extending through the disks, a steam generating cylinder around theeXplosion cylinder, valve and pipe connections from the compression i cylinder' to the steam cylinder and explosion cylinder, means for feeding air into said steam cylinder to be heated, means for feeding a small quantity of Water into the steam cylinder at the point of intake Vfor compressed air, a main valve and pipe connection for controlling the supply of fuel and heated air to the explosion cylinder, a needle Valve Withinthe main valve for controlling the supply of fuel to the main valve, and means for automatically operating both thc main valve and needle Valve.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut this 20th day of March, A. D. 1912.

CHRISTOPHER J. LAKE.

lVitnesses:

C. M. NEWMAN, RUTH Mc. WORDEN., 

